Auxesis

Auxesis

Auxesis is a form of hyperbole, in which something is referred to by a term disproportionate to its importance for the very purpose of amplifying that thing's importance or gravity.

It can be contrasted with meiosis and litotes, which make deliberate use of understatement.

Examples

*A lawyer may refer to a scratch as a "wound" or "laceration."
*A book may be referred to as a "volume" or "tome."
*Referring to a film as a "drama" or an "epic," when the intent is to lend a sense of importance or majesty.
*Calling the body of work that a newcomer has produced in a field a literary canon.

References

*Corbett, Edward P.J. "Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student". Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

ee also

*Figure of speech
*Hyperbole
*Rhetoric


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  • auxesis — [ôks ē′sis] n. [ModL < Gr auxēsis, growth < auxein, to increase: see WAX2] Biol. the process of cell growth caused by the increase of cell volume prior to cell division auxetic [ôkset′ik] adj …   English World dictionary

  • Auxesis — Aux*e sis, n. [NL., Gr. ? increase, fr. ?, ?, to increase.] (Rhet.) A figure by which a grave and magnificent word is put for the proper word; amplification; hyperbole. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Auxēsis — (gr.), 1) (Gramm.), so v.w. Augmentum; 2) (Rhet.), rednerische Vergrößerung, Übertreibung …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Auxesis — Auxesis, in der Gramm. was Augment; in der Rhetorik die rednerische Vergrößerung, Uebertreibung; auxetisch, vergrößernd, übertreibend …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • auxesis — Aumento de tamaño o de volumen como consecuencia de la expansión celular, más que por un incremento del número de células o de los elementos tisulares; hipertrofia. Diccionario Mosby Medicina, Enfermería y Ciencias de la Salud, Ediciones Hancourt …   Diccionario médico

  • auxèsis — auxèse [oksɛz] ou auxèsis [oksezis] n. f. ÉTYM. Av. 1969; grec auxêsis « croissance, accroissement ». ❖ ♦ Didact. Accroissement irréversible de la taille d une cellule végétale dans une dimension (élongation), ou dans les trois dimensions. || La… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Auxesis — Auxèse L auxèse (substantif féminin), du grec auxêsis ( jactance ) est une figure de style consistant en une gradation d hyperboles dont l intensité sémantique ou émotive mène au paroxysme parfois jusqu à la négation. Elle est proche de la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Auxesis — Die Amplificatio (lat. amplificatio: Erweiterung, gr. auxesis: Wachstum, Zunahme) ist die artifizielle Ausweitung einer Aussage über das zum Verständnis der Aussage Nötige hinaus. Dies kann z. B. durch wiederholtes Betrachten eines Faktums unter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • auxesis — Increase in size, especially as in hypertrophy. [G. increase] * * * aux·e·sis ȯg zē səs, ȯk sē n, pl e·ses .sēz GROWTH specif increase of cell size without cell division aux·et·ic zet ik, set adj …   Medical dictionary

  • Auxesis — Au|xe|sis die; , ...esen <aus gleichbed. gr. aúxēsis> (veraltet) Vermehrung, Vergrößerung, Übertreibung …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

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